Inverters/rectifiers and DC/DC converters critical for supporting high-power, high-voltage systems, such as hybrid-electric ground vehicle propulsion systems, typically operate between two high voltage busses with bi-directional power flow of up to hundreds of kilowatts. To prevent system damage during fault conditions, bi-directional fault isolation, or power conditioning, is needed. Because mechanical contactors do not provide adequate actuation times and suffer severe degradation during repeated fault isolation, a solid-state circuit breaker (SSCB) is desirable.
To provide such a SSCB, and to enable such bi-directional power flow in a semiconductor device, the device should provide symmetric current flow in forward and reverse directions and blocking of a specified voltage in forward and reverse directions. In addition, the gate-drive of the bi-directional circuit should operate at high current-gain and high bandwidth with low conduction losses, should allow for fast switching, and should have small physical size, all of which contribute to the bi-directional circuit's efficiency.